Feeding bottle

ABSTRACT

A feeding bottle for infants useful for travelling and including a storage compartment for the nipple and a heater. The bottle includes an outer wall with an opening for the nipple at a first end and which turns inwardly at the opposite end defining a second opening, the wall terminating to form a closed portion within the bottle. The bottle thus includes a first storage space for the feeding material and a second storage space for the heater and for a nipple.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a feeding bottle generally consistingof a glass bottle or bottle of some other material, provided at itsopening with a teat which is screwed on by means of some suitablearrangement. Usually the contents of the feeding bottle shall be warmedand this is at present impossible since the contents in the bottle isusually heated by placing the bottle in a saucepan of hot water.Furthermore, the actual teat of the feeding bottle is generallyunprotected and may become dirty before the feeding bottle is used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a feeding bottlewherein, prior to use, the actual teat unit is protected, and whereinthe feeding bottle is provided with one or more cylindrical spacesemanating from the bottom of the bottle, said space being closed at itsupper end and open at its lower end so that a heat-generating unit canbe placed in the space. It is suitable for the heating unit to beattached by means of screw threading. The heating cartridge may be ofany suitable type, such as a battery connected in a resistance wire thatgenerates heat. Another method of generating heat is to utilise twodifferent substances which generate heat when mixed. The substances maybe water and calcium chloride. The actual bottle is surrounded by asleeve longer than the bottle in order to give the bottle rigidity andto provide a space beneath the bottom of the bottle into which a teatcan be inserted so that it is protected, and also some nutrient. Thelower end of the bottle is then closed by some suitable form of closure.

After the contents of the bottle has been heated, it is sometimesnecessary to keep the contents warm for a predetermined period of timeand this is possible if the bottle as such is similar to a vacuum flask.The wall of the bottle may be designed in this way along its entirelength or substantially its entire length, with exception of the partdefining the cylindrical space emanating from the bottom of the bottle.The wall of the bottle may then be constructed in exactly the same wayas the wall of a conventional vacuum flask. Another way of achieving thesame effect is to provide the exterior of the bottle with a coatingwhich acts like a vacuum flask. In this case the wall of the cylindricalspace emanating from the bottom of the bottle shall be free fromcoating.

According to a preferred embodiment of a feeding bottle in the form of avacuum flask, it may consist of a tubular part designed in the samemanner as the wall of a conventional vacuum flask. This tubular part isclosed at the top and bottom. The bottom of the bottle thus consists ofa separate unit and the cylindrical space that must exist within thebottle and which shall provide space for the means to heat the contentsof the bottle, emanates therefrom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The actual closure of the bottle is such that is can be provided at itsupper end with a sealing disc or a teat, as desired. The presentinvention will be described in more detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which

FIG. 1 shows a feeding bottle prior to use, which means that the bottleis closed at its upper end,

FIG. 2 shows the same feeding bottle where a sealing disc has beenreplaced with a teat,

FIG. 3 shows a heating unit,

FIG. 4 shows the feeding bottle according to FIG. 2 further developed sothat it is similar to a vacuum flask,

FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal section through the upper part of thefeeding bottle according to FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 shows a longitudinal section through the bottom part of thefeeding bottle according to FIG. 4, and

FIG. 7 shows a longitudinal section through the bottom part of thefeeding bottle with a teat in the storage space.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The drawings show a feeding bottle 1, suitably made of plastic, but itmay of course be made of glass. The bottle 1 is provided at its upperend or neck 7 with a closure 10, suitably utilising screw threading,where the end of the closure 10 can be provided with a sealing disc 9or, as shown in FIG. 2, a teat 11. The bottle 2 has a cylindrical space12 emanating from the bottom of the bottle 2, said cylindrical spacebeing closed at its upper end and open at its lower end, the space 12thus being separated from the contents of the bottle. A sleeve 3 isfitted over the actual bottle 2. The sleeve 3 may be provided withadvertising material and is longer than the bottle 2 itself so that acylindrical space 4 is formed beneath the bottom of the bottle 2. Saidcylindrical space 4 can be closed by means of a lid 6. The bottle 2 maythus contain water and the cylindrical space may contain a packet 5 ofmilk powder and also a teat 11. The heating unit 13 can be attached insome way or another in the cylindrical cavity 12, e.g. by means of screwthreads 17 and 18. The heating unit consists of two spaces 14 and 15separated from each other by a diaphragm. In the two spaces 14 and 15are two substances, e.g. water and calcium chloride. Said diaphragm ispenetrated by a special penetrating device 16 and the two substances arethen mixed in the heating unit 13 by shaking the bottle to that heat isgenerated.

Said heating unit may also consist of a battery with a resistance loopthat generates heat.

The feeding bottle 2 described above is extremely handy to use whentransported cold with milk powder 5 and a teat 11 in the space 4 and aheating unit 13 in the space 12. The space beneath the bottom of thebottle 2 is opened, after having first unscrewed the lid 10. The sealingdisc 9 is removed and replaced with a teat 11 and the unit 13 isactivated so that only the two spaces 14 and 15 are combined bypenetration when they contain two substances, so that heat is generatedas the two substances are mixed together. If an electric unit is used,all that is required is for the switch to be activated.

As is clear from the above description, a feeding bottle has beenprovided which can be prepared for travel or for use. When the feedingbottle is ready for transport the teat 11 and milk substance 5 areprotected in the space 4 beneath the bottom of the bottle. When thebottle 2 is to be used where no heating source is available, the sealingdisc 9 is merely replaced with the teat 11 and the heating unit 13initiated so that heat is generated. Heat is usually generated byshaking the bottle to mix the two substances together.

When using a feeding bottle of the type described above, the contents ofthe bottle sometimes needs to be kept warm for some time and the bottledescribed thus lacks the desired vacuum-flask characteristics. However,this can be solved by providing the exterior of the bottle and itsbottom with a layer of suitable known material having the ability tokeep the enclosed bottom at the heated temperature for a considerableperiod of time. Another way of arranging this is for the bottle itselfto have a wall in the nature of a vacuum flask, i.e. most of the wall isdouble, the walls being spaced from each other to define a space as in avacuum flask. The wall and bottom of the bottle are thus double whereasthe wall enclosing the space that emanates from the bottom of the bottleis not double-walled, thus enabling heat to be conducted from said spaceto the contents of the bottle.

FIGS. 4 to 7 show an embodiment of a feeding bottle similar to a vacuumflask. The actual vacuum-flask part of the bottle is in the form of adouble-casing tube 29, enclosing a space. The tube is cylindrical butcurves inwards at the top to an end point 30. Said tube has thechracteristics of a vacuum flask. The tube is surrounded by a casing 3'shaped at the top as a neck 20 with internal threading. The casing maybe made of any suitable material, e.g. plastic. The neck 20 is providedwith an inwardly directed peripheral flange 21 on which an annularperipheral seal 22 is arranged. This seal may be of rubber or some othersuitable material. The seal has two outwardly directed flanges 23 and 24that cooperate with the peripheral flange 21. The seal 22 also has atubular part 25 designed to function as support for the tubular end 30of the vacuum-flask part together with the peripheral flange 24. Theperipheral flange 23 is designed to function as a contact surface for aperipheral flange 28 of a teat 11'. This peripheral flange 28 can bereplaced with a circular disc covering the opening of the bottle whenthe teat is not in function. The peripheral flange 28 is held in placeby means of a flange 27 secured to a bottle closure 10' having aninternal tubular part 26, said tubular part having an external threadcooperating with the thread on the neck 20. The lower end of the casing3' is provided with an external thread 32 and an internal thread 33. Theinternal thread cooperates with the external thread 35 on a tubularretaining part 34 which has an inwardly directed flange. Above thesurface of the flange is a tubular seal with two outwardly directedperipheral flanges 38 and 39 and an inwardly directed flange 37. Theseal may be made of any suitable material, e.g. rubber. The lower end 31of the container wall 39 is in contact with the upper side of the flange38. The lower edge of the container 19 abuts the flange 37, thiscontainer being in the form of an inverted test tube sealed by a disc 49with a central hole 50. The container 19 may be of any suitablematerial, e.g. glass or plastic. The lower end 31 of the casing isdetachably joined to a tubular end closure which is double-walled, openat its upper end and closed at its lower end so that the end closure hasannular form and a cross section that is U-shaped. The outer wall 41 ofthe annular closure is provided with an internal thread 43 at its upperend, cooperating with the external thread 32 at the lower end of thesleeve 3'. The inner wall 42 of the sleeve is folded inwards at the top,the inwardly folded edge being designated 44. The inwardly folded edgeis designed to function as support for the inwardly directed peripheralflange 37. The lower edge of the container 19 thus rests on the flange37. The inner wall 42 of the annular closure is provided with anexternal thread 42 designed to cooperate with the external thread 46 ona vessel 45 which is closed at one end and provided with a plug 48. Ascan be seen in FIG. 6 the plug 48 is intended to close the central hole50. The position of the cylindrical vessel shown in FIG. 6 is theposition assumed by the vessel when the feeding bottle is in used.

FIG. 7 shows the vessel 45 inverted and screwed into the annular endclosure 40. In this position the vessel acts as container for a teat 11'with flange 28.

The bottle described above functions in the following manner.

It is assumed that the feeding bottle according to FIG. 5 has a sealingdisc placed on its upper end as shown in FIG. 5 and that the teat issituated in the space as shown in FIG. 7. The cylindrical vessel 45 isnow screwed out of its original position, thus exposing the teat. Theclosure 10' is then removed and the sealing disc at the upper end of thebottle is removed and replaced with the teat 11', the flange 28 of whichwill then abut the flange 23 and the clamped against this by the flange27 when the end closure 10' is screwed on. When this has been done thecontainer 19 is filled with a suitable chemical composition so that aheating process is started. When the space is full the cylindricalvessel 45 is inverted and screwed in so that its plug 48 closes thecentral hole 50. A heat-generating process is then initiated and whenthis is complete, a heated product will retain its temperature thanks tothe thermos-like properties of the wall 29 of the vessel. In this casealso any heat-generating arrangement, e.g. an electric arrangement, maybe placed in the space 14. The end wall 49 must be adapted to suit theheat-generating arrangement selected.

It should be obvious that the attachment between the lower end of thecasing and the outer wall of the annular end closure is such that it iseasy to exchange the actual bottle wall 29 in the form of a vacuumflask.

What is claimed is:
 1. A feeding bottle comprising:an elongated andgenerally cylindrical outer wall having a screwthreaded first opening ata first end thereof constructed and arranged for attachment of a cap andnipple thereto, and at an opposite end thereof folding inwardly towardsthe first end defining a second opening, and terminating to form aclosed portion within the bottle and forming thereby a first storagespace for feeding material including the first opening, said firststorage space extending to the opposite end, the closed portion furtherdefining a second storage space accessible through the second openingand tapering toward the first end, the second opening having a diametersubstantially coextensive with the opposite end, the first and secondstorage spaces being coextensive over a substantial length; a closurefor the second opening; a screwthreaded cap for the first opening whichis removable to enable attachment of the nipple; a nipple constructedand arranged for attachment to the bottle at the first end; a removableand initiable temperature adjusting unit constructed and arranged forplacement in an upper portion of said storage space for adjusting thetemperature of the feeding material in said first storage space, saidtemperature adjusting unit corresponding in shape to the upper portionof said storage space, a remaining portion of said storage space beingdefined between the upper portion and the second opening, the remainingportion being sized to accommodate the nipple for storage therein. 2.The feeding bottle of claim 1, wherein the cap comprises a screwthreadedouter portion having a central opening therein for receipt of thenipple, and a central disk for sealing the central opening and which isremovable for insertion of the nipple through the central opening. 3.The feeding bottle of claim 1, additionally comprising a sleeve fittedover the outer wall to increase rigidity of the bottle, and whichextends past the opposite end.
 4. The feeding bottle of claim 1, whereinthe temperature adjusting unit is a heating unit.
 5. The feeding bottleof claim 4, wherein the heating unit is a chemical heating unit.
 6. Thefeeding bottle of claim 5, wherein the chemical heating unit comprisesfirst and second compartments separated by a diaphragm, and means forpuncturing the diaphragm, the first and second compartments eachcontaining a component such that an exothermic reaction results frommixing the components.
 7. The feeding bottle of claim 1, wherein aportion of the outer wall comprises insulation against heat loss.
 8. Thefeeding bottle of claim 1, wherein the insulation comprises a doublewall with a vacuum space therebetween.
 9. The feeding bottle of claim 1,wherein the outer wall has a plastic coating thereon.